Open-air carbon coatings on fused quartz by laser-induced chemical vapor deposition

Carbon films are deposited on fused quartz substrates by CO₂ laser-induced chemical vapor deposition (LCVD) using a novel open-air coating system. The hydrocarbon precursor gases are methane, propane and butane. The deposition rates of the three hydrocarbon gases are determined by measuring the mass of the carbon film deposited at constant temperature, and validated by film thickness measurements obtained using an environmental scanning electron microscope. The results indicate that butane and propane have significant deposition at 1375-1500 K, while deposition starts at 1550 K for methane. All three hydrocarbons have an exponential increase in deposition rate. Deposition rates obtained with butane and propane show a much stronger influence of temperature compared to methane. Raman spectra of deposited carbon films indicate that the surface consists of glass-like or nanocrystalline carbon. The ratio of D-peak to G-peak Raman band intensities decreases as the deposition temperature is increased, which is possibly due to self-annealing and additional surface reaction during high temperature deposition. This finding indicates that the carbon film exhibits higher structural order at high deposition temperatures, which can significantly enhance the film’s hermeticity and mechanical properties for use as an optical fiber coating.